


Code H

by iammyownqueen



Series: Not going anywhere [3]
Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, fly on the wall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-06
Updated: 2020-04-06
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:28:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23516935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iammyownqueen/pseuds/iammyownqueen
Summary: Vic had dealt with a lot of weird texts. Most he could ignore. Some he could not.
Relationships: Bart Allen & Jay Garrick, Victor Stone & Silas Stone
Series: Not going anywhere [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1525469
Comments: 8
Kudos: 45





	Code H

**Author's Note:**

> This was super fun to write, I hope you guys like it.

Vic was getting used to his powers. Being connected to the modern world in such an intimate way was thrilling, once he stopped running from it. It still had its flaws, of course. Namely, the fact that he intercepted every single text within a twenty feet radius. He had reminded his team  _ several _ times of this fact. He tried to stop it, but it was an involuntary response.

They still forgot, which made it super awkward when couples decided to get… frisky over the phone. He was getting used to it, going as far as to intrude the text conversation for a gentle reminder that  _ no one wants to see that. _

Other than that, they were easy to ignore. He hardly even registered that he had intercepted them at all.

_ Are you free to babysit tonight? _

_ Hey, what’s up? _

_ Good night beautiful. _

And then there were the weird ones.

_ Your dad’s being fussy, I think he wants you to play with him,  _ coupled with a picture of a crying toddler.

_ Do you think potatoes have shapes they prefer? Like, one would rather become a french fry, but the other wants to be a baked potato? _

_ Did you know that some lizards and snakes have more than one penis? They have two. It’s called a hemipenes. _

Most of the weird ones were from Kid Flash. He swore that he was from the future, but Vic wasn’t buying it. Aliens and living computers? He could accept that. Time travel? Nope. His brain stopped there. He kept insisting it was true, and everyone backed him up on it. Given his personality though, he swore it was an elaborate prank.

The weirdest texts, however, were from KF’s guardian, Jay Garrick. There were the normal ones, of course.

_ It’s your turn to cook tonight, do you need me to grab anything from the store? _

_ What time will you be home tonight? _

_ I saw your mission on tv earlier, good job. _

And then there were the weird ones.They didn’t happen all the time, but they were always the same.

_ Code H, grocery store _

_ Code H, home. _

Vic had no idea what Code H meant, but whenever Kid Flash received a text like this, he made some lame excuse and speed off, only to return a few minutes later. He had tried to wheedle the truth out of him, but he never answered where he went or why.

It didn’t really matter anyway. It wasn’t his business.

But it also kept happening.

_ Code H, home. _

_ Code H, library. _

_ Code H, dinosaur park. _

Vic will be the first to admit, his curiosity got the best of him. He didn’t want to spy on his teammate. He especially didn’t want to spy on the legendary Jay Garrick, who had been his childhood hero growing up, but it was eating him alive. The texts were so  _ random _ , but so  _ specific. _ It meant something important.

He wasn’t proud of it, but he ended up tapping into the feed of security systems to grocery stores in Central City when Bart received the text:  _ Code H, grocery store. _

When he found Bart entering one in civies, he followed his trail with the cameras. He found Jay and hugged him, before helping him finish his shopping. Vic stopped watching after a few minutes, feeling immensely guilty at watching such a domestic scene when he had no reason to intrude. Kid Flash returned ten minutes later in full uniform to continue team training as happy as ever, offering no explanation whatsoever

He let a few of the texts go by in peace, not allowing himself to think about it. He still felt guilty about spying on them, even if neither of them had noticed.

It wasn’t until Kid Flash initiated it that he allowed himself to be curious.

Some team members had decided to have an impromptu movie night complete with popcorn and hot chocolate. Kid Flash, of course, finished his popcorn and two mugs of hot coco in record time. He only got twenty minutes into the movie before KF took out his phone and texted Jay.

_ Where are you? _

Jay texted back within a few seconds.  _ The library, everything okay? _

_ Code H, incoming, _ he texted back.

He didn’t even make excuses or say anything at all when he left the Hub at superspeed. Vic decided to hack into Central City Public Library, against his better judgement.

He found Jay reading in a plush armchair. A few seconds later, Bart appeared in the frame. Jay got up and enveloped him in a tight hug that lasted five seconds. Then, Bart sat down in an armchair across from Jay. Jay let his book lie closed on the arm of the armchair as he and Bart engaged in conversation. Vic couldn’t hear what they were saying, but they seemed to enjoy each others company. He cut himself from the feed, but didn’t stop thinking about it.

Why? What did Code H mean? Both times he had watched, he felt like he had intruded in personal, family moments between a father and son. Was it really that simple? One text and they would expect a visit, no matter what was going on around them? He didn’t think _his_ father would drop everything he was doing, just for a conversation. No, he _knew_ he wouldn’t. Still, he hadn’t known Bart or his family for very long. Heck, he had never technically met Jay yet all, just spied on him twice. Even so, his family seemed more close than his had ever been

But what did the H mean? Was it just a random letter? Why not code X or Y or Z? Did they have several other codes? What were codes A through G? He couldn’t even figure out the first code or why it existed in the first place, let alone seven others. Did it stand for a specific word? Hang, maybe? He didn’t think so, it still felt clunky and wrong, there had to be something different.

_ Oh. _

H.

Hug.

Code H.

Code Hug.

It… made sense now. Both times, the first thing they did was hug each other. He figured hugging was just the standard greeting for them, and maybe it was, but this was different.

Bart was a very physical person. The first time they had met, he hugged Vic without hesitation or fear. It had freaked him out at first that he was comfortable enough to hug a freak like him without second thought. He had tensed up, and Bart apologized.

“Sorry, I just sort of assume hugging is cool with everyone, I could… go for a high five if that's better? Or is no touching your thing? I can wave or something!”

“No. no, it's fine,” Vic had said, still in shock.

“It’s just as well,” Virgil butted in before introducing himself. “I don’t think he could respect personal boundaries if he tried.

“Hey!” Bart said. “I could too!” he had argued.

Still, Code Hug made sense in the context, especially knowing that they had both lost someone important to them recently. It was nice that they had a bond like that, where they could come to each other no matter what.

He watched the rest of the movie, trying to ignore the bitter feeling slowly growing in his chest. After the movie, he still hadn’t come back. Vic hacked into the library again and found they were still exactly where they were when he had tuned out. Jay had gone back to reading his book, and Bart was still sitting across from him. A stack of books had appeared by his side, and he was reading constantly.

Anger burned in his chest. He wasn’t angry at them, that was insane. He didn’t know what he was angry at exactly. His father? Even that seemed wrong. He wasn’t angry at the Garricks. (he knew Bart wasn’t technically a Garrick, but it was clear to him that his last name didn’t matter. He was a Garrick in his mind.) He wasn’t angry at his father, or at himself. He wasn’t sure what he was angry at. Maybe it wasn’t anger at all, maybe it was just loneliness playing dress up.

He was jealous. Their relationship was obviously close, and he ached for something similar. His father had never been the close type, always too busy working to even watch a football game. Even when his football games meant the world to Vic, his father never made the effort.

“Victor Stone is crying. Is Victor Stone alright?” Forager asked.

“What?” Vic felt his cheek under his real eye and found that he  _ had  _ been crying. “Yeah,” he lied. “I’m fine.”

He stood up and started towards the Helicopter pad. “I need some air, I’ll be back.”

If he called his dad right now, would he race to him? Would he answer, even if he was at work? He never had before, but so much had changed since then. They had smoothed things over, but they hadn’t been around each other much since. He made the impulse decision to call his father, just to see.

He answered on the third ring, record time for his dad.

“Vic? Is everything alright?” His voice was almost at panic levels, but Vic could tell that he was trying to calm down.

“Yeah,” he said. “Everything's fine. I just wanted to talk, is this a good time?”

His father sighed. “Of course, it's a perfect time.”

Vic used his power one last time to look into his father's workroom at STAR. He smiled to see that his father was lying. He was clearly in the middle of an experiment, but abandoned it immediately as soon as he called.

Meanwhile at Central City Library, Jay and Bart smiled at each other over their books, completely oblivious at the change they had caused.

**Author's Note:**

> Bart and Jay highkey have a system that whenever they miss Joan and need a hug, or just need the other's company, they will text and the other will come running. Also, Jay spends a lot of time at the library because it gets him out of the house and away from the memories of Joan :D


End file.
